Before I became a mom I knew I wanted to nurse and always thought that nursing past one wasn’t necessary…then I became a mother, did a lot of research and decided that my goal was to follow the World Health Organization and make it to at least two years. I am lucky to have a very supportive husband and friends that don’t judge our decisions because I know you rarely see kids nursing past one. I even noticed with my close friends that the big majority had weaned by the age of one but I was determined to continue.
Nursing a toddler is much different than nursing a baby and I feel the biggest changes in our nursing relationship happened during 12-24 months. (You can read about our breastfeeding journey from the beginning here: 0-6 months & 6-12 months).
Nursing between 12-18 months:
My daughter was still nursing quite frequently, about every 2-3 hours. She was also nursing at night, anywhere from 2-5 times. I noticed the less she ate or nursed during the day, the more she nursed at night. So during this age I always offered food and milk to make sure she didn’t go to bed hungry.
She still wasn’t a good eater and sometimes I wondered how she was surviving on such little food but my pediatrician kept reassuring me that as long as I was nursing I shouldn’t worry about how much she’s eating. We have a rule at home that we don’t force eating, nor use dessert to bribe our daughter into eating her meals. We want her to learn to listen to her body and eat what she needs and not what we think she needs, so our approach has always been to offer a great variety of foods and let her decide how much and what she eats.
My daughter caught a virus during these months and nursing is always what keeps me sane when she’s sick. She pretty much refuses to eat and drink when she’s sick but will want to nurse a lot so I know she’s getting what she needs and that’s a relief.
Sometime in between these months my daughter stopped nursing when we were out. She was too distracted and excited about what was going on so nursing became a thing we just did at home. I think most people didn’t even know I was still nursing her because she only did it when we were home alone.
In the second year (12-23 months), 448 mL of breastmilk provides:
29% of energy requirements
43% of protein requirements
36% of calcium requirements
75% of vitamin A requirements
76% of folate requirements
94% of vitamin B12 requirements
60% of vitamin C requirements-Read more here.
Nursing between 18-24 months:
Our nursing relationship continued very similar to what it had been up to that point, except she was now nursing less. My boobs felt like they didn’t have much milk in them but I could hear her swallow so I knew there was still some milk left.
During these months we did a lot of traveling, we went to Costa Rica for 7 weeks and then to Europe for 10 weeks so nursing was a lifesaver when she didn’t want to try new foods or when she just didn’t eat enough. She was still nursing about every 3-5 hours and between 2-4 times at night.
When she was close to 23 months I became pregnant. I had already done my research when we were trying to conceive and I had made the decision that I would nurse through pregnancy if she wanted to and as long as I didn’t have any issues during my pregnancy that would require me to stop. This is when the biggest changes occurred due to the fact that milk changes throughout pregnancy.
The first weeks of pregnancy, when I didn’t know I was pregnant, my daughter started nursing a lot more. It seemed like she wanted to be on my boob all day and after a while it started to bother me a little because my nipples would get too sensitive. I had to distract her several times so I could get a break. Luckily this only happened when we were home and when we were out and she was in the carrier.
I remember one day when we were in Spain and I had her in the carrier but on my back and she kept screaming “leche, leche, leche”, which means milk in Spanish. It was like that for about 2-4 weeks and then suddenly she started nursing less. I think my milk supply dropped because of my pregnancy. It seemed like from one day to the other my daughter started eating about 3 times more than what she usually ate. We would have to serve her food again and it seemed like she wanted to eat all day.
Along with the drop in my supply and the increased eating her nursing sessions started to be less and less. I didn’t have to cut down her feedings since she naturally did it herself. Her nighttime feeding turned into one session around 4am and after about a week of that she stopped nursing all together at night. During the day she also dropped some feedings and now she only nurses 3 times for about 5 minutes each time.
I’m not sure if she’s going to end up weaning during this pregnancy but I’m not going to make her wean. I’ll follow her own cues and do what she needs.
Now that I reached my goal of 2 years I’m glad I decided to nurse for an extended period of time. She wasn’t ready at all to be weaned at one, and although I’m sure she would have been fine, I know it wasn’t what was best for her.
There is also something about nursing a toddler… She is now more aware of what’s going on and she can express herself better, which made our nursing sessions so sweet. She would love to hold hands or just look into my eyes. Sometimes she would get silly and start laughing uncontrollably as she tried to nurse. I really enjoyed nursing her because I feel it made our bond stronger. It is truly a special thing.
Now that she’s past two we are still nursing and I’m not sure for how much longer but I’ll definitively post an update when the time comes.
Have you nursed a toddler? What did you think of this experience?
I’ve nursed all eight of our children – some longer than others. Right now my eighth is 26 months and would happily nurse all day if I let him. He only started enthusiastically eating solids about two or three months ago. Last fall he was very sick, and I was so happy that he was still nursing. He had to be hospitalized, and let’s just say that I wouldn’t want to give a healthy child the food they brought for his meals. He nursed a lot in the hospital even though the doctors and nurses told me to wean – that’s a whole other story. Just recently he started sleeping through the night on a more regular basis although just last night he nursed three or four times. I enjoy nursing my toddler. l feel that there so busy discovering new things that it’s a safe haven to return to when life gets overwhelming.
Wow! You are such an amazing woman having had nursed 8 kids. It is so inspiring to read that.
I agree with you that nursing toddlers is great for bonding and for all those times when they refuse to eat. I cannot believe doctors told you to wean, although I’m not too surprised seeing how little support there is to nursing moms. I’m glad you didn’t listen to them.
Thanks for sharing your story!
Awe, sweet! I loved nursing my toddler although I never thought that would be me either!
I became pregnant when my daughter was 26 months old and she was still nursing a lot at that time (day & night). I also decided to continue nursing as long as I could through pregnancy and I was open to tandem nursing, but it didn’t happen for us. I developed a very strong nursing aversion a few weeks in that made it very difficult. I gradually night weaned, and then the day feeds declined until she gave it up altogether at 33 months old. Having it end was bittersweet but I don’t regret a moment of it!
Now I am happily nursing my 7 month old. Congratulations on your pregnancy! Love that you’re sharing this story – I wish more moms knew how amazing natural term nursing is.
Love love when other moms tell me their nursing stories. I think the more we speak of it the more “normal” it will become in this society. I feel that nursing is so natural and what’s meant to be done…not sure why so many people have issues with it.
I hope I’m able to go as far as you went. I know it will be bittersweet when my daughter weans but I’m glad we made it past 2.
Thanks for sharing your story!
I nursed both of my girls and there’s definitely a learning curve and all sorts of changes that take place. Plus I discovered that both of my girls were so different in how they fed/nursed!
Informative post my friend!
Thanks for sharing and for linking up to the #SHINEbloghop.
Wishing you a lovely weekend.
xoxo
That’s a good point! There’s definitively a learning curve and a lot of changes that go with each stage. I bet it will be different with my second baby like it happened to you.
Thanks for stopping by!
How interesting. I guess I never really even thought about nursing past one. I just haven’t heard of many people that do it. Sometimes you do things like you do because they are the norm, but maybe with my next baby I’ll keep nursing past one if my life allows it. What a sweetheart your daughter is!
You’re right – it is not very common but then again, most moms nursing past one don’t talk about it and since toddlers rarely nurse when they’re out no one really knows about it. I think most of my friends didn’t know I’m still nursing our daughter (I bet they know now if they follow my blog). What’s important is that you do what feels right for you. 🙂 And yaaaay for “next baby” comments! We need more babies!! 🙂
Hi, thanks for sharing this, I have a 15 year old son and a 13 year old daughter, both of which I nursed until they were one. I am now happily nursing our 8 month old baby boy and have been thinking of nursing past one year and your story has helped me to make up my mind to continue for as long as he wants to, it has also put my mind at ease about how much solid food he eats, I am being told he needs to eat more and nurse less at his age, but he is more interested in nursing more often than solid food. I am going to just take my lead from him and go with the flow and stop stressing out as much.
Thank you very much for sharing your story,
I am so happy my post help you make that decision. It means a lot to me. ❤️
My daughter started eating a little bit more after she turned 2.
As long as your baby is nursing he will be fine so please don’t worry about foods.
They will eventually start eating more and some kids are just different. My first barely wanted foods and my second wants them all the time.
Listen to your instincts mama! ❤️
And if your start stressing out about it reach out to me.
Mu son is 9months next week (Nov11) and before his father died we talked about letting him wean himself from nursing. Docs already telling me once he has teeth to stop. I feel that in his own lil way nursing and the closness of it helps him through the grieving procecess….ppl say he is too young to understand or remember but i believe he feels the absence of his father, they were inseparable. your stories are encouraging ccause i want to keep up with Daddy’s wishes. Thank you for inspiration.
I am so sorry about your husband! I do believe when you say your son is grieving and that nursing helps him through this very hard process.
Please don’t listen to those doctors, just because your son has teeth it doesn’t mean you have to stop breastfeeding. Your breastmilk is the best food source for your child and it’s totally normal for kids to nurse well past one. Listen to your mama instincts mama and do what feels right to you.
Hugs!